"Seasoned For Destination"

[Israel Stein]

At 08:57 AM 9/11/2008, you wrote:
>Subject: Re: "Seasoned For Destination"
>Message: 1
>
>
>>My basic question is this: Will a piano built for the Japanese 
>>market be any worse off in North America. If so, why? If not, Why?
>>
>>Bruce Gibson
>
>
>It depends on where in the country it goes. In areas with high year 
>round humidity, they do fine. Here in Wichita Kansas, they tend to 
>deteriorate quickly without good humidity control. People try to 
>shrug off the "gray market" boojum as a marketing thing, but it's a 
>very real concern in areas that have seasons.
>Ron N

Ron,

I will confirm this from personal experience. Over 11 years in Boston 
I have seen several Yamahas built for the Asian market deteriorate 
rather quickly. One very striking case was a 15-year old U-1 that 
came over from Japan with the family of a corporate executive who was 
transferred, and was in near-perfect condition when I first tuned it. 
A year later it developed loose tuning pins and walking center pins.

Here in Northern California, where I have been since 1996, these 
pianos made for the Japanese market do just fine - and I have been 
servicing quite a few for years...

I advise clients who own one or contemplate purchasing one that if 
they ever move to a more severe climate where humidity fluctuates 
significantly between seasons to install a Dampp-Chaser system.

Israel Stein